On Missing Miracles

I’m glad I’m not writing the story.  If I were, I would miss all the major miracles and write in the minor ones.  This is because God’s timing is not my timing—I would look for the lesser miracle every time because the greater miracle brings pain.  As I read the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11), I realized that my prayers would have been for Jesus to get there just in time to heal him.  In my zeal for Lazarus, Mary, and Martha to miss the pain of Lazarus dying and the sister’s grief, I would have missed the greater miracle and the lesson about Jesus being the resurrection and the life.  My desire to help them avoid pain and struggle would have resulted in a minor miracle, not a major one that would turn the world on its ear.

It is the same with the Christmas story.  If I had been writing the story, I would have had Jesus born in a comfortable castle, or at least in the inn.  Most preachers yield to the temptation to condemn the inn keeper, not realizing that he just might have recognized that a first century inn, with a bunch of smelly men sleeping in one large room just might not have been the safest, most secure location for what must have looked like an impending birth.  Perhaps he thought the smells of a stable would have been preferable to the smells of an inn.  Or, perhaps there just wasn’t any room, and he sent them to the only place he had left—the stable.  Whatever, if I had been writing the story, I would have written in people of power coming from Jerusalem to see the baby, not mundane, shepherds who most likely smelled of the outdoors, let alone sheep.

If I had been writing the story, I would have missed the miracle of Christmas: The God of the universe entering earth in a smelly stable. 

How often I have my preferred story line for my life—called prayer.  I declare to God what I want, as if He were a short-order cook.  Only, my plan for my life, my story line, is not God’s story line.  My story line, my prayers, would lead away from pain, struggle, and problems.  God’s story line leads through the pain, struggle, and problems, because that is precisely where He will most clearly reveal Himself…  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; ^{PS 23:4}  

Yes, Jesus embraced the cross after gracing a stable with His personal presence.  His Story writes in a greater, though more painful, miracle.  As much as I don’t like it, God’s story for me is different than mine. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. ^{PHP 3:7:-11}

 I’m glad He is writing the story rather than me, because I’d miss Christmas in my life if I was the writer! As much as it might hurt, I want my prayers to be more for His will than my freedom from pain. 

The Fallacy of Peace

One of our greatest fallacies is measuring God's will by our "blessings".


We may be able to measure our health with a thermometer, but it is a fallacy to measure our spiritual temperature and whether or not we are walking in God's will by how blessed we are. Our ultimate success and security aren’t dependent on our surroundings or even our blessings, but on our obedience and conformity to God’s Word. We may find success and security absent when we leave out God’s Word and God’s Ways. We may find success present when God allows success so He can eventually reveal our self-dependence by removing our security in things or self-effort. Security, success, prosperity can be related to the flesh just as much as to the Spirit.

In Jeremiah 44, Israel in Egypt slid back into worshipping the Queen of Heaven because they used material prosperity to measure their spiritual lives. They were living in Egypt, out of God’s will, following their own ideas on how to find safety and security, thinking it was to be found in Egypt rather than in obeying God and consequently staying subservient to Babylon. The very thing they feared most, subjection to the Babylonians, would chase them down in Egypt. They were not ultimately safe and secure in their devotion to the Queen of Heaven even though they could measure their immediate success and safety by worshiping her.

We can’t find ultimate success and safety by living for peaceful feelings. I realize that this runs counter to a basic dictum of how to discern God's will. We are told to measure how aligned we are to God's will by how much peace we feel. While that may work sometimes, too often the peaceful path is cowardly, the path of least resistance. For nearly 20 years of my life I tried to live by peace. Avoiding conflict and ruffling feathers, I tried to keep the church I served happy and liking me as their pastor. I watched other friends who were pastors continually hit problems head-on, creating conflict, and saw that they bounced from church to church. So, I tried to avoid conflict, and felt that God's path was always measured by peace. After all, doesn't the Bible say in James 3:17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving.... 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

However, in avoiding conflict, by using peace and a path free of conflict as my measure of whether I was walking in God's will, led me to frustration when the people around me didn't grow. By equating peace with God's will, I ignored that Jeremiah and Ezekiel had to choose between saying what God said and saying what the people wanted to hear. Jesus, the great Peacemaker, was continually in conflict with those whose hearts had become hard. Few of the Bible’s leaders were able to measure God's will for them by how much peace and material prosperity it brought into their lives. After all, Jesus, the perfect Son of God, did not have a place to “lay his head”—materially, He would not have been declared a material success, and certainly, none of His disciples found safety from death. Rather, by following Jesus, they found eternal security, but not temporal security.

God's will, which runs counter to man's best ideas (Isaiah 55), often brings conflict. We can almost measure God's path for us by asking, "Which path is the hardest, most difficult, and will require God to show up the most or I'm toast?" Certainly, we can learn from Israel in Egypt: choosing peace and prosperity by following our own path or the best path of human reason ("We'll be safe in Egypt") just might lead us straight into what we fear the most--missing out on God's best for us because we have chosen to use our thinking rather than His.

No, the best measure of whether we are walking in God's will is to first measure our behavior choices by the written Word of God and then choose what the Bible says to do. That's the path to find His will. Sometimes heading straight into the jaws of immediate conflict is God’s way to ultimate peace.

Snowball

Snowball was my pet goat. She was white, perhaps even an albino with pink eyes, or maybe that was just what a goat was. Snowball is difficult to remember, but never forgotten. Snowball entered my life in the summer of my 10th or 11th year. She was my pet, not a family pet. And I took care of her. Snowball was a goat--she couldn't live in the house. The barn had collapsed under the snow--so there was no barn. Goats didn't belong in the hen house or the woodshed. So, Snowball slept and stayed in an abandoned car near where the old barn had stood, near a blackberry patch, which provided some snacks for Snowball, who, being a goat, liked bushes and leaves and didn't mind the briers.

Life was good, and Snowball grew. However, that winter there was a cold snap. Snow was on the ground. I went out to check on Snowball, and found her....dead. She was stiff, frozen in the cold.

I was grief-stricken, and felt very guilty, like I hadn't taken appropriate care of her.

Years later I realized that when an animal dies, it naturally gets stiff from rigor mortis, not necessarily from the cold or my negligence. So, I felt a little less guilty.

If my parents had thought the old car wasn't appropriate shelter, they would have told me about it; That they didn't meant that they were as blindsided by Snowball's death as I was. This was another reason to feel less guilty. However, none of those things were on my ten year old mind. I just felt I was responsible.

We buried Snowball on the edge of the field past the hen house. I erected a cross on the top of Snowball's grave

Let me summarize some of the impact that Snowball's death had on me and the things I learned from it.

1) I never wanted a pet after that because pets die and I didn't like the feeling.

2) I never wanted a pet again because I felt responsible for a pet, but couldn't control conditions and keep them safe.

3) Pets were about me--I didn't see that God gave them to accomplish something in me. Instead of asking "What did I learn from Snowball?" I just shut off the experience as much as possible.

4) I learn something about myself: I tend to take responsibility when it is not my responsibility. While I couldn't deny my part, I couldn't blame myself entirely for what happened. I was not alone--my parents played a part. Plus I can't control the weather.

5) Death is a part of life--accept it and go on

Faith in the Fire

"Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand." (Jeremiah 18:6 NIV)

 The Bible is very definite. God is shaping us into the image of His Son and His tools for shaping us are the circumstances that enter our lives through His hands of protection and love.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (Romans 8:28-9 NIV)

• Knowing that God was at work in the circumstances of his life enabled Joseph to see his brothers' treachery as an instrument to move him from his comfy existence in his father's family in Canaan to the upper reaches of the Egyptian government. Genesis 50:20  
• Knowing that God was at work in the circumstances of his life enabled David, while running from Absalom, to stay faithful to God when cursed by Shimei . 2 Samuel 16
• Knowing that God was at work in the circumstances of the coming cross enabled Jesus to continue his trip to Jerusalem (Luke 18:31)

 Confidence that God is in charge of the circumstances that enter our lives and that they are His tools to shape us into the image of His Son converts the bummers of this life into gold. This confidence that God is at work in me (Philippians 2:13) transforms my view of the vicissitudes of life into seeing them as part of God's master plan. Let's face it, when the courts don't rule in our favor, when the other party gets away with leaving us in the lurch, when we are abandoned by those closest to us, we are just beginning to look like Jesus.

Yes, this is not the popular, "trust Jesus and everything will turn out wonderful" message that we often hear from our pulpits. We hear our pastors tell us that God will be a pillar of fire and cloud to protect us, so we should expect Him to show up in our boldness and courage. However, the lesson of the cross is that God will just as often show up in the pain and trial of life, when those around us or circumstances tend to squeeze the life out of us. Boldness and courage, yes, but to offer the sacrifice of praise (Heb. 13:15)--thanking God when the hard stuff of the universe impacts me along with those close to me--that's faith!!

The sacrifice of praise is described in practical terms in Romans 8:28-39--believing that God is at work in spite of the painful trials that come our way, and thanking him for the spears, the nails, the cross--because we know God is doing something good in them, even though they hurt!!!

Jump The River

“Jump the river, Grampa,” Jaxon says as he jumps across the crack on the sidewalk.

Yesterday I had a gloriously special time with Jaxon, 4 ½, in Everett, walking round the blocks several times near Rucker Hill. He often would run ahead of me, like he was racing, looking over his shoulder from under his orange stocking hat, wondering if I’m keeping up. I call out, “Stop”, but he keeps running until he comes to a driveway, then he stops on a dime and waits. He even took Grampa’s hand to help keep him (Grampa) safe when we crossed at a corner. Then we were walking along a street near a ravine and saw a trail switch-backing down to the tiny stream at the bottom. The sign said it was “FORGOTTEN CREEK NATURE AREA”. So, we took the path to the bottom, winding down, across log bridges, to the board walkway atop the marsh at the bottom. Then we turned around and went back up. That's when he identified which of the letters on the sign he recognized.  When the big dogs came barking to the fence and gate, he held on a bit tighter and our pace increased until we felt safe again.


What a glorious day! And, it ended with Jaxon saying “My legs are tired, Grampa!” and he consented to a piggy back ride, rare for those little legs; he usually wants to be independent! What a special pleasure to have him ride piggy-back!!!

Waiting at a coffee shop, Jaxon asked for a treat, so I sprung for a snack, even though there was a snack in the car (we weren’t in the car).

How like this is to walking with Jesus! He leads us in exploring new territory in our lives, taking us to places full of wonder, although sometimes we just wonder about the places He takes us. We run ahead, and, in concern for our safety, He speaks through His Word to tell us to stop in dangerous places. He smiles when we recognize something special we have learned.  When the places are frightening, He allows us to hang on more tightly, reassuring us that He is there right beside us to take care of us. And, when we are too tired to go on, He carries us. At the middle, the beginning, and the end, He provides refreshment for us. This is the picture of Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

He must take as much pleasure in the walk as I do, if yesterday was an accurate picture of my walk with Him. Sooooo glad that He encourages us to “jump the river” and walk with Him. Soooo glad for the special afternoon with Jaxon!

The Lesson of the Banana

When I was visiting Centro Christiano de Alabanza in Costa Rica 5 plus years ago, we spent an afternoon with their school faculty at a Banana Plantation near the Atlantic coast. When we first came into the plantation, we could see the trees growing bananas… each trunk had one huge bunch of bananas encased in a blue plastic bag open on the bottom. The bag had small slits, so air could go in and out, but insects couldn’t. I learned that each banana tree grew for 9 months and produced one bunch of bananas; then it died, and new ones come up from around it. When they cultivated bananas, they always had one stalk to carry the fruit, which would die when finished, and a “follower” stalk coming to produce fruit 9 months later. There are some obvious lessons that parallel Colossians 1:6-- NIV-- 6 All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth.

The gospel is bearing fruit—like the banana tree. Earlier Paul had written the Colossians that the gospel was the good news about faith, hope, and love available, as he tells in verse 6 through God’s grace—not our own effort. All around us the gospel is bearing fruit on the stalks of those we follow.

This gospel fruit, however, was not just a local fruit, but universal—available all over the world produced everywhere God’s good news of grace is active.

And, like the banana tree, there was death in the process. The main stalk gives its life to produce fruit, then dies. Jesus died for us so He could live in us and produce this fruit—faith, hope, and love, and that these three would permeate our relationships and, like the banana tree, spring off into other lives. The lesson of the banana and the lesson of Jesus is one: There is always some sort of dying to produce fruit.

The High Cost of Shining

Shining is always costly.  Light comes only at the cost of that which produces it.  An unlit candle does no shining.  Burning must come before shining. We cannot be of great use to others without cost to ourselves.  Burning suggests suffering.  We shrink from pain..."The glory of tomorrow is rooted in the drudgery of today."  Many want the glory without the cross, the shining without the suffering, but  crucifixion comes before coronation.

When the Answer is "Get Outta My Way"

It is even more difficult when God's method to answer our prayer is to use our lives without our mouths: we struggle with going into action without words. Wives who have prayed for their husband to be the spiritual leader struggle to close their mouths long enough for their husband to initiate any spiritual behavior. We are so full of our own understanding of Scripture, our children, disciple, or partner have no opportunity to get their oar into the waters of conversation. We are so enamored with our own understanding of the situation, we can't stop and let the other person speak--and miss out on God's answers that might come if we just listened.


Frankly, for all our praying, too often we are really too full of us. Sometimes God introduces pain into our world precisely to stop us in our tracks long enough that He will have room to work. Paul talked about how his experiences had a tendency to go to his head. So, God arranged for pain in his life to there would be more of God and less of Paul. 2CO 12:7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Sometimes our excuses, failures, inadequacies and "What If's" are the backdrop for God to get the greater glory…if we will allow Him to get us out of the way long enough to answer our prayers His way rather than our way. It is a challenge to know when God wants to use us in the answer to our prayer, and even more difficult when our involvement is just getting out of His way.

When Pointing Undermines our Praying

There are times when we actually avoid God's answers to our prayers. We pray and pray, but then, when He answers, are unwilling to be part of it. Take Moses, for instance. It was obvious that Moses had been interested in seeing God answer Israel's prayer for relief from Egyptian slavery. But, when God, meeting him at the corner of the Burning Bush and the backside of the desert, told him that He was going to do something about the slavery, Moses balked.


Here is what it was like,

The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt....And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 1So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." EX 3:7-10

Listen to Moses' various excuses and attempts to avoid being part of God's answer

But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" EX 3:11

Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, `The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, `What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" EX 3:13

Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me EX 4:1

Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." EX 4:10

Moses sounds a bit like us. We too easily are "pointers" (pointing at what God's people need or what they could do), and many of our prayers are "pointing" to what we want God to do. Too often, however, like Moses, when God tosses it back into our lap and implies that we are a part of His answers to our own prayers, we get all full of "what if's" and negative self-image. "I can't" sometimes become our mantra in spite of all the emphasis on positive thinking today.

Too often we are the parent or partner who pleads with God for changes in children or mate, but when God calls us to change so He can engineer an answer, we become too busy with our work. We can easily see how our church ought to reach into the community and pull the gospel net by sharing Christ, but find our schedules so full of church activities that we have no time for staffing our corner of the net. Our lives are so full of good things we are too busy on the back side of our deserts to be God's instrument. We know what God should do but feel like too much of a failure in our previous efforts, to jump in again.

When you pray, expect God to answer, using you in some way! Instead of excuses and inadequate feelings, prepare to leave the desert and align yourself with His answers.

Prayer's Timetable!

God always answers prayer. However, we often experience answered prayer only after long delays, and sometimes then it even looks like He is only making things worse. But, God answers the prayer, often choosing His own methods, time-tables, and purposes.


At least, that is what I learn from how God answered prayer in Exodus. From the burning bush, God says, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them EX 3:7

God doesn't say how long He had been hearing them, but we know that Moses had been in the desert for 40 years, and the pain had been going on for years before that. Israel had been in Egypt for over 400 years, but the Bible doesn’t say how many of those 400 years were slavery.

Obviously, God takes His time in accomplishing what He wants. He always chooses the time when things are ripe for the answer. Even after telling Moses that He had come down to rescue them, it was months, at the very least before Israel marched out of bondage and into the desert. In the process, God seemed to make things worse to accomplish His answer His way...at least, this is what Moses expressed in Exodus 5 Moses returned to the LORD and said, "O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all." Exodus 5:22-23

Our experience is similar. The process of God releasing us from our bondages may hurt. Sometimes His answers to prayer are painful, involving desert experiences. We may feel like we are going to die in the process before we get free.

We often find ourselves praying fervently that God will release our partner from bondage to various things, but then complain because God's methods bring us pain along with their freedom. Parents pray fervently that their child will be set free from bondage, but then try to rescue the child from God's methods of their recovery because it hurts to see their pain--yet God is in our pain and often uses pain to set them free. We complain about our employer, and then object when God uses a layoff to set us free and send us on into His promised land. We often don't even recognize God's answer in the painful experiences of life until long after we have walked into the promised land of His answers.

God does answer prayer. It is just that His answers are seldom in the way we envision nor on our time-table. But, then, God's methods are more for His purposes than for our comfort. The big question we face is: are we willing to be His instruments in the answer, and to walk the road from Egypt as He directs?

As my friend, John Laskey, said, "I have learned that anything worthwhile in life takes way longer, costs way more, and is way harder than I thought possible." We experience life this way because we have God in the box of our expectations. He operates on His own schedule and His own methods for His own purposes, as He told Moses, I will gain glory for myself. Are we willing to let God out of our box and answer our prayers His way in the process finding that His answers are far better than our expectations?

Be Part of the Answer

As I've been reading the life of Moses in Exodus, I've been impressed with how God answers prayer--sometimes throwing us a curve in the answer to our longstanding prayers, telling us that we are the answer, like in this scene from Exodus 3


The Lord said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." (Exodus 3:7-10 NIV)

God heard their prayers, and promises to answer and deliver, but Moses was part of that answer. When we pray, we might expect that God may use us in His answer. Moses' part wasn't exactly to deliver Israel from Egypt. Moses had tried delivering Israel 40 years before--unsuccessfully. No, Moses' part of God's answer to prayer was to speak to the people and to Pharaoh, to hold up the staff at appropriately directed times. His part was to show up, in the face of rejection and personal danger, and take orders.

When we pray, be ready for God to say, "I'm going to answer. And you are part of that answer!" God doesn't seem to abide pointers, people who tell others what to do but don't pitch in and be a part. The Pharisees were like that, as Jesus pointed out in Matthew 24:4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. (NIV)

So, keep on praying. God's answers may take 40 years. They may take 400 years. God's answers may not come quickly and easily. But, most importantly, God's answers may involve you. When you pray be ready to be a part--not all, but a part. He gave Moses specific directions on what was his part and what wasn't. Moses tried to weasel out of the assignment. God, however, saw through all his excuses and used him anyway--why? Because Moses went to Egypt! Moses was ready to be part of the answer, and to try again after previous failure. God most certainly answers prayer. Sometimes He wants to us as part of the answer, in spite of our previous failures, weaknesses, and excuses. In fact, our very weakness is a backdrop for Him to get greater glory—but, that is another story!

When you pray, be ready to move!

The Memory Tree

As we approach Epiphany (celebrating the wise men’s visit to Jesus described in Matthew 2), the traditional Christmas celebration for the eastern church, I wanted to reflect on the importance of a Christmas tree in our home.

This year we motored to Freddies instead of our favorite tree farm to get our tree. We found one, and it has been in our garage and then front room for a week. Yesterday I had to get it decorated because Jaxon, our grandson was coming to spend the afternoon.

So, I got out the boxes and decorations in my famous grinchly attitude. First the lights (only the colored strings worked enough this year, and since this is our year to not have family at Christmas, it didn't really matter?). Then the decorations.

That was when the memories came flooding back. We've accumulate quite a collection of decorations over 42 Christmases. Each one brought back a time, a place, or a person.

There were the decorations Carol hand painted for our second Christmas (only one of the toy soldiers made from TP rolls for our first Christmas together still languishes in a box). We couldn't afford much.

Then I broke out the original Grant nativity set--with figures about 1 inch high. How our kids loved that manger scene, even though it says more about our financial condition at that time (or my inherent stinginess) than our love for Jesus and His birth.

There were
• 3 Baby's first Christmas decorations, 73, 79 and 82.
• Countless treble and bass clefs, musical notes, bells, and pianos from Carols' piano students over the years.
• Plastic, stained glass appearing decorations from long ago friends
• Tiny wire and glass ornaments from friends
• Picture ornaments from each of our grandchildren
• Tiny flip-flops and palm trees from our Thanksgiving vacation in Maui
• Many angels
• Kewpie doll ornaments from my mother for our oldest
• Picture ornaments each of our children made in elementary school
• A ferry for our son's hobby
• A tiny Starbucks cup
• Knitted Santa Claus faces
• Bells made by national Christians in South America-

And, at the top of the tree, the angel our oldest made in Kindergarten, looking down over 42 years of memories.

It was a great experience that made me thankful for all those who have contributed to our Memory Tree over the year. What a special surprise that removed all the Grinch from my attitude and started Christmas for me.